wikileeks: April 2012

It feels like the year has barely begun and here we are at Easter already. Melbourne has turned on some absolutely delightful weather and its on those days I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But autumn also means many things are finishing up in the veggie patch including tomatoes, basil and the green beans. The capsicums have been delicious, the eggplant is fruiting nicely and have been picking some red hot birds eye chilli peppers. Managed only one mini-pumpkin though, having a tree branch fall on the vine didn't help. It's kind of sad to see the veggie plants dieing off but that's nature and already I'm thinking about preparing for spring.

The highlight of the week was trimming the out of control rosemary hedge at the back and instead of composting I bagged up the clippings and took them to work. This harvest was well received and the bags went quickly! Everyone commented about how nice it smells and ideas range from adding the rosemary to roasts to infusing it in olive oil.

I've finished re-doing the steps I was telling you about and I'm starting on turning a grassy (but more weedy) flat area on the western side of the house into a patio of sorts with some paving and gravel finished off with some large pots for decoration. There's that Mediterranean influence again. An exciting project but it requires some shallow excavation and re-grading low points for proper run off. Dud passion fruit rootstock has been ripped off the fence and will give a couple of bougainvillea plants a go. They should do well there as they'll get a full blast of hot afternoon summer sun.

Autumn is a good time for planting and transplanting as the plants benefit from the warm days as they establish their roots without suffering in the heat of summer. If you are thinking of sowing a lawn autumn is a great time too.

With winter just around the corner I'll try and make the most of the fine days being outdoors. Autumn really is my favourite time of the year. Happy Easter.